You ask ChatGPT for the best hotel, restaurant or tradesperson in your town, and others are named. Or ChatGPT knows your business but says things that are not true. Both cost you customers who never call you.
The good news: the causes can be found and usually fixed. This guide shows you how ChatGPT selects businesses, how to test properly in ten minutes and what to do for each cause. Statements about how ChatGPT works are based on OpenAI. All sources are linked below.
- ChatGPT finds businesses almost only via web search, which according to OpenAI uses providers like Bing.
- First check whether Bing finds your website and whether OpenAI's search crawler may read it.
- Put the key facts on your website clearly as text and bring all listings online to the same state.
- For recommendations, mentions on portals, in directories and on other sites count.
- Test with web search, several questions and on two days.
First: which of three cases applies to you?
“Not in ChatGPT” can mean three very different things, and each has a different fix. Before you change anything, find out which case is yours:
Case A often has technical reasons or is down to a very new business. Case B is about mentions and clear facts. Case C comes from outdated or contradictory details somewhere online. The test in the next section shows you where you stand in ten minutes.
How ChatGPT builds an answer about a business
ChatGPT has two sources of knowledge. Training knowledge comes from texts the model was trained on. It has a cut-off date that is usually many months back. A new or small business often does not appear in it at all.
The second source is web search. According to OpenAI, ChatGPT searches the web automatically when a question benefits from it, using search providers like Bing and content from partners. Since February 2025 search is open to all users, even without logging in.
How to tell which source answered: if source links appear under the answer, ChatGPT searched the web. If they are missing, the answer came from training knowledge. For your business, web search is almost all that matters, because that is the only place you can influence the answer.
The 10-minute test: how to check properly
A single question proves nothing. ChatGPT answers slightly differently every time, and your history affects the answer. This is how you get a reliable picture:
- Ask neutrally: open a temporary chat or use ChatGPT logged out so earlier conversations play no role.
- Use web search: click the search icon or add “search the web”.
- Ask five kinds of questions: brand, facts, recommendation, comparison and detail (templates below).
- Include the town: always name the location. Otherwise, according to OpenAI, ChatGPT uses your approximate location from your internet connection, and you test from your office's point of view instead of your customers'.
- Repeat twice: ask each question on two different days. Only what comes up the same several times is a result.
- Write it down: note whether you are named, what is wrong and which sources ChatGPT shows.
The sources are the most important part. They show you where ChatGPT gets its details from, and therefore where you need to act. An example of what that looks like:
ChatGPTbeforeBooking siteReview siteChatGPTafter
alpenhotel-muster.atBooking siteReview siteSelf-check: which cause affects you?
Answer the seven questions. The test shows the causes most likely in your case and links straight to the matching fix.
Technically and data-wise everything looks fine. Then it is usually down to competition in your category: more mentions and clear unique selling points help.
Whether your details online and in ChatGPT are correct, the free check shows you within about 15 minutes:
The seven most common causes and what to do
The first three causes mainly relate to case A. Causes four to six relate to cases B and C. The seventh affects new and changed businesses.
1. ChatGPT answers without web search
If source links are missing, ChatGPT answered from memory only. For small businesses that means nothing or something made up. What to do: always test with web search switched on. That is also what your customers usually get when asking about places and offers.
2. Your website is not in the Bing index
Many businesses only care about Google. According to OpenAI, however, ChatGPT uses search providers like Bing. If you are missing from the Bing index, the directory of all pages Bing knows, you are harder to find. How to check: enter site:your-domain.com on bing.com. The site: prefix lists all pages of your domain that Bing knows. If none or only a few appear, your website is missing from the Bing index. What to do: register your website in Bing Webmaster Tools. It takes a few clicks via an import from Google Search Console. Also create a Bing Places listing.
3. OpenAI's search crawler is blocked
OpenAI uses several crawlers, robots that read websites automatically. For search only OAI-SearchBot counts. OpenAI states that sites that opt out of it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers, at most as a plain link. GPTBot, by contrast, collects data for training. According to OpenAI, blocking it has no effect on search. Open your-domain.com/robots.txt, the file that tells crawlers what they may read, and check whether OAI-SearchBot or all crawlers are blocked. This is how you explicitly allow both:
User-agent: OAI-SearchBot Allow: / User-agent: GPTBot Allow: /
If you do not want your content used for training, set Disallow: / for GPTBot. According to OpenAI this has no effect on search.
Also watch out for bot protection features of hosting providers and services like Cloudflare: they can block AI crawlers without it showing in robots.txt. Check their settings for AI crawlers. According to OpenAI, a change takes about 24 hours to take effect.
4. Your website does not state the facts clearly
ChatGPT can only name what it can read. If your website says “Welcome to our house” but nowhere clearly what you offer, where and for whom, there is no basis for a recommendation. The same applies to details that only appear in images, PDF menus or embedded widgets. What to do: put the key facts on your website as text: services, location and surroundings, target group, opening hours, prices, facilities and what sets you apart. Answer the questions customers ask you on the phone directly on the page. Make sure this text is in the page source and not loaded later via JavaScript, which crawlers often miss. Structured data from schema.org also helps, for example of type LocalBusiness or Hotel: it summarises name, address, opening hours and services in machine-readable form. It is not a must, but it makes your details less ambiguous.
5. Contradictory details online
If your website says “dogs welcome”, a booking site says “no pets” and a directory has an old address, ChatGPT has to pick one version. Which version ChatGPT picks is unpredictable. Contradictions make it hard for the AI to identify you clearly. What to do: make your website the benchmark and bring all listings to the same state. How to do this in seven steps is shown in How to find and fix wrong data about your business online.
6. Too few mentions on other sites
For recommendation questions ChatGPT relies heavily on review sites, directories and articles on other sites. In a 2026 BrightLocal analysis, the review site Yelp was among the sources in 80 percent of the ChatGPT answers studied, followed by Tripadvisor and other portals. The data comes from the US, UK and Australia. There is no comparable analysis for the DACH region, but it is plausible that portals like Tripadvisor, Booking or Herold play this role here. For hotels and restaurants this means ChatGPT often names the portal listing instead of your website. According to the same analysis, ChatGPT draws on Apple Maps data far more often than on the Google Business Profile. The Google profile remains important for Google, AI Mode and Gemini, but for ChatGPT it only works indirectly. What to do: maintain your profile in Apple Business Connect, keep complete, current profiles on the portals of your industry and in the main directories of your country and collect new reviews regularly. Reply to reviews, including critical ones. Also seek mentions in regional media, at the tourism board or with partners. Which directories matter is covered in Business directories in Austria and Germany.
7. Your new details have not arrived yet
If you opened, renamed, moved or changed your offer, ChatGPT's training knowledge knows nothing about it. Web search only finds the new state once your website and portals show it. Old names and addresses on portals slow you down further. What to do: change old details everywhere, not just on your own website, and give search engines and portals a few weeks.
When ChatGPT says wrong things about you
Case C is the most annoying: ChatGPT names you, but with wrong opening hours, a closing day that does not exist or facilities you do not have. There is no form for businesses to correct their data directly with OpenAI. You can mark a wrong answer with a thumbs down in the chat, but that does not change the source.
Almost always only one thing works: correct the source ChatGPT took the wrong detail from. The source links under the answer show you which one. Why AI systems get business data wrong is explained in AI hallucinations: why ChatGPT and Google get your business wrong. How to report errors for each service is shown in AI answers wrong? How to correct false info.
How long until ChatGPT finds you?
OpenAI only states a fixed time for robots.txt. Everything else depends on how quickly search engines and portals pick up your changes. These are realistic values:
| Action | Until it works | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| robots.txt changed | about 24 hours | stated by OpenAI |
| Website submitted to Bing | a few days to a few weeks | experience |
| Own profiles corrected (Google, Apple, Bing) | a few days | experience |
| Third-party portals and directories corrected | a few days to weeks | experience |
| New mentions built up | several weeks to months | experience |
Test again after four to six weeks with the same questions as the first time. Only then can you see whether anything has really changed.
What does not help
- Describing your business in the chat: what you tell ChatGPT does not end up in answers for other users.
- Relying on an ad: OpenAI has no business listing. Since August 2026 ChatGPT also shows labelled ads in the DACH region, but they stay separate from the answers. You cannot buy your way into the recommendations.
- Allowing GPTBot to appear in search: it handles training. For search, OAI-SearchBot is what counts.
- Relying on an llms.txt: it does no harm, but it is no substitute for clear content, a clean Bing index and consistent listings.
- Taking a single test question seriously: only repeated results with web search are meaningful.
Faster results: check automatically
The manual test works, but it takes time every time and only shows you a snapshot. faktado.ai regularly asks ChatGPT and Google AI Mode the questions your customers ask and checks every answer against the facts on your website. For each wrong or missing detail you see the source and the right correction, including for portals, directories and map services.
The free check shows you within about 15 minutes which details about your business online are wrong. An overview of other tools is in the comparison of business data tools.
maxonline, the SEO and GEO agency behind faktado.ai, takes care of it for you.
FAQ
I rank first on Google. Why does ChatGPT still not name me?
Because ChatGPT does not copy Google's ranking. It searches via its own providers like Bing and bases recommendations heavily on portals, reviews and mentions on other sites. A good Google ranking helps, but it is no guarantee for ChatGPT.
Does this also apply to Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Mode?
The basics are the same: clear facts on your website, consistent listings and mentions on other sites. The sources differ, though. Gemini and Google AI Mode use the Google index and the Google Business Profile, while Perplexity shows its sources especially openly.
Why does my business not show up in ChatGPT?
Usually for one of three reasons: ChatGPT cannot find your website technically (Bing index, blocked OAI-SearchBot), your website does not state the key facts clearly, or other sites mention you too rarely or with contradictory details. A test with web search switched on and the source links shows which reason applies.
Can I register my business with ChatGPT?
No. OpenAI has no business listing comparable to the Google Business Profile. Since August 2026 you can run ads in ChatGPT, but they are shown separately from the answers. A business is only recommended via web search, meaning via your website and what other sites say about you.
Does ChatGPT use Google or Bing?
According to OpenAI, ChatGPT search uses third-party search providers such as Bing as well as partner content. That is why it is worth registering your website in Bing Webmaster Tools.
Do I have to allow GPTBot for ChatGPT to find me?
No. GPTBot collects data for training. According to OpenAI, OAI-SearchBot is responsible for search answers. That is the one you should allow in robots.txt.
How quickly does ChatGPT see changes to my website?
According to OpenAI, a robots.txt change takes effect after about 24 hours. New content is found once search engines have picked it up, usually after a few days to weeks. Changes on third-party portals often take longer.
Harald FischlManaging Director, maxonlineHarald is Managing Director of maxonline, an SEO and GEO agency from Lower Austria focused on hospitality. He works every day on how businesses are presented correctly in search engines and AI answers. More about Harald